Telephone system.



1 H. P. CLAUSEN.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1912.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

2 SHEETS-$HEET 1.

W 4 mm P; EJ311552? .l'nvenmr H. P. OLAUSEN.

TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.11, 1912v 1 13L912, Patented Mar.16,1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

JzzvEnIm": E 515M551?! v n w W) Wjf 5555's.- ;a bl

UNITED STATES PATENT carton.

HENRY P. CLAUSEN, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS. 4

TELEPHONE SYSTEM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 16, 1915.

Application filed March 11, 1912. Serial No. 682,891.

0 all whom. it may concern:

lle itkuown that I, HENRY P. CLAUsEN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Rochester, county of Monroe, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Systems, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to telephony and is a species of partial call distributing systems.

The object of my invention is to provide circuits and apparatus which may be readily applied as an extension, or an addition, to an existing telephone system of the so-callcd two-conductor multiple type.

It has been found in practice that about twent -live per cent. of the total traffic of an exchange originates with about ten per cent. of the telephone lines of the exchange. It has also been noted that in an ordinary manual exchange of the multiple type, in which the lines are distributed before the operators with care, so that the number of calls handled by the operators will be substantially the same per day, the variation between operators does not exceed thirty per cent. per hour.

By my present invention about ninety per cent. of the lines terminate permanently before the operators, these being carefully distributed by means of the intermediate distributing board so that each operators position will receive substantially the same number of calls on these lines in twenty-four hours. This does not mean, however, that, during short intervals of ten, fifteen or thirty seconds, the various operators positions will be equally loaded. In order to more equally load the operators positions during these short intervals, the other ten per cent. of the telephone lines are connected with distributing switches so that the calls received upon these lines are automatically distributed before operators having no unanswered calls before them.

I prefer", throughout this specification and claims, to call the lines which are. permanently terminated at the various operators positions fixed lines, and to term the lines which are automatically connected with idle operators distributed lines.

In a multiple telephone exchange in which all of the lines terminate before the operators as fixed lines. the variation in l the load upon the operators from one minute average of three hundred calls per hour.

This results in a reduction in the total number of operators required for the exchange,

and a consequent saving in operating ex-- penses.

Tersely stated, my system provides means whereby an unanswered call upon a regular hne, or an unanswered call upon a distributed trunk, at any single operators positlOIl, prevents distributed calls from being delivered tothat position.

Other features of my invention will be more specifically set forth in the following specification and claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which all apparatus is shown in its normal or unactuated condition, and in which- Figure 1 represents three telephone lines extending from substations to the exchange; and Fig. 2 represents the connection terminals for these lines, the cord circuit and a line to be called, the two figures illustrating a single system.

In Fig. 1 the subscribers stations 1, 2 and 3 are each provided with the usual annunciator 1 and condenser 5, in a permanent bridge between the line conductors 6 and 7, and with the transmitter 8 and receiver 9 in a bridge maintained normally open by contacts of the switch-hook 10.

At-the central oflice line conductor 6 is connected through contacts 11 and 12 of cut-ofi' relay 13 and the coil of line relay 14 to conductor 15, which extends to the live pole of battery 16, the other pole of which is grounded, and line conductor 7 extends to the central oliice and is there connected through contacts 17 and 18 of cut-off relay 13 with the ground pole of battery 16. Cutoff relay 13 has normally open contacts 20 and 21 for extending the limbs of the line when the relay is actuated, the contact 21 being permanently connected through the coil of the cut-01f relay 13 with ground. Line relay lat has normally open contacts and 23, adapted. when closed, to connect the battery conductor 15 with the contact 24 upon the intermediate distributing frame. Contacts 21 and 20 of cut-01f relay 13 are connected, respectively, to the contacts 19 and 34 of the multiple jacks and also to contacts 25 and 26 upon the intermediate distributing frame.

-The apparatus associated with the calling subscribers stations '1, 2 and 3, and the called subscribers station 3', is similar, and similarly connected, like apparatus being designated by corresponding numerals. This similarity, however, extends only to the multiple jacks and as far as the intermediate distributing frame, beyond which subscribers lines 3 and 3 are similar, the like apparatus being designated by corresponding figures.

Contacts 24, 25 and 26 upon the line side of the intermediate, distributing frame for station 3 are respectively connected with contacts 27, 28 and 29 upon the switchboard side of the intermediate frame. Contact 29 is connected with the tip contact 30 of the answering jack; contact 28 is connected with the sleeve or test contact 31 of the answering jack; and contact 27 is connected with the lamp 32 and thence through the coil or fixed line pilot relay 33, to ground.

For convenience of designation, the numerals associated with the called subscribers line 3 are provided with the suffix The contacts 24, 25 and 26, associated with the calling subscribers station 2, and located upon the line side of the intermediate distributing frame, are respectively connected with contacts 35, 36 and 37 upon the frame containing the automatic distributing apparatus, this frame being usually placed near the intermediate distributing frame so as to be connected with the line contacts in the intermediate frame by means of loose jumper Wires, thus permitting lines to be changed from fixed to distributed, or vice versa. The contact 37 of this frame is connected through conductor 38 with the normally open contact 39 of cut-in relay 40,. the normally open contact 41 of this relay being connected through conductor 42 with the wi er segment 43 of distributer switch, 44. gontact 36 upon the distributing apparatus frame is connected through conductor 45 with the normally open contact 46 of cut-in relay 40, and with the normally open contact 47 of motor relay 48. The lever contact 49, adapt ed to register with contact 46 of relay 40 when the relay is actuated, is connected through conductor 50, with the wiper segment 51 of the distributor switch 44. The normally open contact 53, adapted to register with the lever contact 47 of relay 48, when the relay is actuated, is connected through conductor 54, condenser 55, common conductor 56, and the secondary winding of the busy induction coil 57, to ground,

the primary winding of this induction coil being connected in a local circuit with the busy buzz interrupter 58 and battery 16. Contact 35 upon the distributed switch frame is connected through conductor 60, the coil of motor relay 48, common conductor 61, and the coil of the trouble pilot relay 62, to ground. Relay 62 controls the normally open contacts 63 and 64 in the circuit of the trouble lamp 65.

Cut-in relay 40 has a third set of contacts, normally open contact 68 being connected through coil 69 and conductor 70 with the live pole of battery 16. The contact 71, which is adapted to connect with the contact 68 when the relay 40 is actuated, is connected through the coil 72 of relay 40 to the contact 73 of relay 48. This contact 73 is normally connected, through contact 74, with the said contact 71 of relay 40. This contact 71 also connects through private conductor 75 with the wiper segment 76 of selector switch The normally closed contact 77 of relay 40 is connected with the normally open contact 78 of relay 48, this contact being adapted, by the actuation of the relay, to connect with contact 79, which is connected through conductor 80, the coil of motor-magnet 81, conductor 82 and interrupter 83, with battery conductor 15. Relay 48 has an additional normally open contact 52, adapted to connect with the contact 73 upon the actuation of the relay.

The tip, ring and sleeve contacts 90, 91 and 92 of the distributer switch 44 are multiplied with similar contacts of other switches, these tip contacts being connected through conductor 93 with the tip contact 94 of trunk jack 95. The sleeve contacts 91 are connected through conductor 96 with the sleeve and test contacts 97 of the trunk jack 95, and the private contacts 92 are connected through conductor 98, the normally closed contacts 99 and .100 of group relay 101, conductor 102, auxiliary jack contacts 103 and 104- associated with the jack 95, conductor 105, and the coil of trunk relay 106 and conductor 107, to the live pole of battery 16. The trunk jack has a third auxiliary contact '109, adapted to connect earth with contact .103 upon the insertion of the plug into the jack. Relay 106 has the normally open contact lcvers 110 and 111. tontact 111 is grounded and is adapted, upon the actuation of the relay, to connect through contact 112 with conductor 102. Contact 110 is also grounded and is adapted to connect with contact 113 and thence through the trunk lamp 114. common conductor 11:") and the coil of pilot relay 116 with conductor 107 and the live pole of battery 16. lay 11.6 controls normally open contacts 118 in the circuit of the pilot lamp 119 and tilt call counter 120 Relay 116.also controls normally open contacts 121 and 122, adapted, when the relay is actuated, to connect the ground of battery, through conductor 123, and the series contacts 124 and 125 of the non-barring key 126, through the coil of barring relay 101 to the live pole of butter 16.

t he fixed line pilot relay 33 controls normally open contact 129, adapted also to connect ground pole of battery with the conductor 123. This relay has the normally open contacts 130 and 131, adapted to complete the'circuit of the'pilot lamp 132-and the direct line call counter 133.

The cord circuit for use with these telephone lines is here illustrated of, the twoconductor four-relay type. The tip strand of this cord circuit extends from the tip contact 135 of the answering plug, through conductor 136, condenser 137 conductor 138, series contacts 139 and 140 of the op-' erators ringing key, to the tip contact 141 of the calling plug. The sleeve talking Strand 'extends'from the sleeve contact 142 of the answering plug, through conductor 143, condenser 144, conductor 145, and series contacts 146 and 147 to the sleeve contact 148 of the calling plug.

The tip and sleeve answering supervisory relays 149 and 150 are connected in a bridge between conductors 136 and 143, this bridge also containing the battery 16, and line supervisory relay 150 controls normally opencontacts 151. and 152, and tip super visory relay 149 controls normally closed contacts 153 and 154 in the circuit'of answering supervisory signal" 155. The calling end of this cord circuit is provided with tip andsleeve supervisory relays 158 and 159, connected in a bridge between the talking strands-138 and 1'45, this bridge also including the central battery 16 and the normally closed contacts 160 and 161 of the operators listening key. Relay 159 controls normally open contacts 162 and 163, and relay 158, normally closed contacts 164 and 165, in the circuit of the calling supervisory signal 166.

The operators listening key hasnormally open contacts 168 and 169, adapted, upon the actuation of the key, to place the condenser 170, receiver, 171, and secondary of the operators induction coil 172, in a bridge between the talking strands of the cord cir" The system of my invention operates as follows: When the subscriber at substation 3 desires a connection, he removes his receiver 9, from the switch-hook 10, and thus completes a circuit from the live pole of battery 16, through conductor 15, coil of his line relay 14, contacts 12 and 11 of his cut-off relay 13, line conductor 6, transmitter 8, receiver 9, contactof switch-hook 10, line conductor 7, and contacts 17 and 18 of-cutoff relay 13, to ground. The current in this path actuates the line relay 14, closing its contacts 22 and 23, thus completing a circuit from the live pole of battery 16, through contacts 22 and 23 of his line relay 14, contacts 24 and 27 of the intermediate frame,

the. fixed line lamp 32, and the coil of fixed line pilot relay 33, to

ground. The current in this path displays the line lamp 32 and actuates pilot relay 33. The actuation of the pilot relay 33 closes its contacts 128 and 129 in the circuit of the barring relay 101, actuating that relayto place a ground upon all of the private conductors 98 for purposes which will be hereinafter described. The actuation of relay 33 also closes the circuit of. the counter magnet 133 and the pilot lamp 132 displaying the pilot lamp and registermg one call uponthe counter 133. Upon observing the display of the fixed line signal 32, the operator inserts her answering plug into the jack of the line thus designated and thereby completes a circuit from the live pole of battery 16, through the coil of sleeve supervisory relay 150, conductor 143, contacts 142 and-31 of the plug and jack, contacts 28 and 25 of the intermediate/frame and the coil of cut-off relay 13 to' ground. The current in this path actuates cut-01f relay 13, severing the circuit of the line relay 14, and

'thus efi'acing the line lamp 32 and returning the relays 33 and -lOl 'to-their normal positions. The actuation of cut-ofi relay 13 also connects the contacts of the answering jack directly with the limbs of the telephone line and thereby completes a circuit from thlive pole of battery 16, through the coil of supervisory relay 150, conductor 143, sleeve-contacts 142 and 31 of the plug-and jack, contacts 28 and 25 of the intermediate irame. contacts21 and 11 of the cut-01f relay 13, line conductor 6, transmitter 8, receiver 9,

r contacts of switch-hook 10, line conductor 7,

contacts 17v and 20 of cut-ofi" relay 13, contacts 26 and 29 of the intermediate frame, the tip contacts 30 and of the jack and plug, conductor 136 and thecoil of supervisory relay 149, to the ground pole of battery 16. The actuation of relay would display the supervisory signal except for the simultaneous actuation of relay 149, which'prevents the display of that si nal.

The operator now obtains the number 0 the.

desired subscribers line and touches the tip of her calling plug to the sleeve'or test contact 34 or the multiple jacket that line, to determine its idle or busy condition. If the line is busy, the sleeve or test contact will be at a potential above that of earth, and therefore a current will flow from the sleeve of the jack tested, through the tip or test contact 141 of the calling plug, contacts 140 and 139 of the ringin key, contacts 161 and 16B of the operator s listening key, the secondary of induction coil 172, receiver 171, and the can 173, to earth. The current in this path will produ'ee a click in the operators receiver notifying her that the line is u a If the line is found idle the operator inserts her 'c'allin lug into the jack of the desired line and e'p'resses her ringing key. Circuit is thus completed from the live pole of battery 1'6, through the non-inductijve resistance 178, contacts 176 and 147 of the operators ringing key, sleeve contaets 148 and '23 of the plug and jack, the coil of cut-0H relay 13, to ground. Current in this path actuates the cut-off relay, changing its contacts to their abnormal positions. 'Current, therefore, flows from the ringin generator 177, through contacts 175 and 140 of the operators ringing key, tip contacts 141 and 19 of the plu and jack, contacts 20 and 17 of the cut-0% relay 13, line conductor 7, condenser 5', annunciator 4, line conductor 6, contacts 11' and 21' of cut-o5 relay 13, sleeve contacts 23 and 148 of the jack and plug, contacts 147 and 176 of the operators ringing key, and the non-inductive resistance 178, and through battery 16 to earth and back to the generator 177. The current in this path, being alternating in character, passes through condenser '5' and actuates annunciator 4 at the desired subscribers station. The operator now releases her ringing key and a new circuit is completed from the live pole of battery 16 through the coil of supervisory relay 159-, conductor 145, contacts 146 and 1'47 of the operators ringing key, sleeve contacts 148 and 34' of the plug and jack, andthe coil of cut-01f relay 13', to ground. Current in this path maintains the actuation of cut-off relay 13 and actuates supervisory relay 159. re ay 1'59 "closes its contacts 162 and 163 in the circuit of the calling supervisory signal 166, thus displaying that signal to indicate to the operator that the called subscriber has not et answered his call. When'the called su 'scriber removes his receiver from the hook at substation 3, a new circuit is completed from the live pole of battery 16, through the coil of supervisory relay 159, conductor 145, contacts 146 and 147 of the operators ringin key, sleeve contacts 148 and 34' of'the p ug and jack, contacts 21 and 11' of cut-off relay. 13', line conductor 6, transmitter 8', receiver 9', contacts of The actuation of switch-hook 10, line conductor 7', contacts 17' and 20' of cutoff, relay 13, tip contacts 19 and 141 of the jack and plug, contacts 140 and 139 of the operators ringing key, contacts 161 and 160 of the operators listening key, and the coil of supervisory relay 158, to the ground pole-of battery 16. Current inthis path maintains the actuation of relay 159 and actuates tip supervisory relay 158. The actuation of this latter relay opens its contacts 164 and 165 in the circuit of the calling supervisory signal 166 and thus efiaces that signal to indicate to the operator that the called subscriber has answered his call.

At the termination of the conversation the calling and called subscribers replace their receivers upon their respective switchhooks, and thus sever the circuits of tip supervisory relays 149 and 158, causing those relaysto return to their normal positions, thus completing the circuits of the supervisory signals 155 and 166. Seeing these signals displayed, the operator removes her callin and answering plugs from their connectlons with the jacks of the lines, and thus 'severs the circuits of the cut-off relays 13 and 13, and of the sleeve supervisory relays 150 and 159. All rela s are now in their normal condition and tne ap" ara'tus is in condition for a second call.

Vhen thevsubscriber at substation 2 attempts to secure a connection before the operator has inserted her plug in response to the call upon the fixed line extending to substation 3, removal of the receiver at subion station 2 completes a circuit from the live pole of battery 16, through the associated line relay 14, contacts 12 and 11 of cut-off relay 13, line conductor 6, transmitter 8, re? ceiver 9, contacts of switch-hook 10, line conductor 7, and contacts 17 and 18 of cutofi relay 13, to ground. Current in this path actu'ates line relay 14, closing itscontacts 22 and 23. A current now flows from the live poleof battery 16, through contacts 22 and 23 of line relay 14, contacts 24 and 35 of the intermediate and distributing apparatus frames, conductor 60, the coil of motor reia'y 48, conductor 61, and the coil of trouble relay 62, to ground. Current in this path actuates motor relav 48, changing its contacts to their abnormal positions. The closure of contacts 53 and 47 of relay 48 completesla circuit from the secondary 57 of the tone-producing coil, through conductor 56, condenser 55, contacts 53 and 47 of motor relay 48, conductor 45, contacts 36 and 25 of the distributing apparatus and intermediate frames, and to the test contact 23 of the multiple jacks associated with the calling line, the purpose of this being to prevent other operators from connecting with this inultiple jack in completing an outgoing call. The closure of 'centaets 78 and 79 ofmotor relay 48 completes a circuitfrom the live pole of battery 16, through interrupter 83, conductor 82, motor magnet 81,. conductor 80, contacts 79 and 7 8 of motor relay 48, contacts 77 and 71 of cut-m relay 40, conductor 75, segment 76, brush 84, contact 92, private conductor 98, and contacts 99 and'87 of barring relay 101, to

ground. The current in this path actuates the motor magnet 81, pulling brushes 85 and 86 ofi of the contacts extending to th s operators position, and thus preventing the call from substation 2 from being con; ducted to and displayed before the operator who at this time has an unanswered call upon the fixed telephone line extending from substation 3. For the purpose of explaining the operation of the circuits for bringing about the selection of an idle operator, consider that all of the private contacts associated with the switch 44 are grounded, elther through the trunks being actually busy, or else through the fact that the various operators before whom these trunks terminate have unanswered calls before them, whereby a ground is placed upon the pr vate contacts, as formerly'explained. In this manner the switch 44 will step forward, one step at a time, due to the rotation of;the'1nterrupter 83, testing each contact as it steps, until it falls upon an idle contact. If, now, the

operator who had previously had a call' upon her fixed line extending to substation 3 has answered this call, and the swltch has proceeded to make one revolution and again returns to contact 92 and finds no ground upon that contact, a circuit will becompleted from the live pole of battery 16, through the coil of relay 106 (F g. 2), contacts 104 and 103 of the'jack 95, conductor 1 102, contacts 100 and 99 of relay 101, conductor 98, contact 92, brush 84, andsegment 76 of the switch 44, private conductor 75, the coil 72 of cut-in relay 40, and contacts 73 and 52 of motor relay 48, to ground. The current in this path actuates cut-in relay 40,

as well as'relay 106 at the now+idle opera-- tors position. The actuation of relay 40,

closes a locking circuit for that relay which may be traced from battery 16, through conductor 70, coil 69 of cut-in relay 40, contacts 68 and 71 of that relay, C011 72 of that relay, and contacts 73 and 52 of motor re-' lay 48, to ground. At the same tlme, the

actuation of relay 106 (Fig. 2) closes the circuit of contacts 111 and 112, completing a locking circuit for relay 106, and at the sametime placing a ground upon private conductor 98, to prevent any other switch from selecting the jack 95, it being-understood that the trunk extending to this jack is multiplied to the contacts of a plurality of line switches associated with different lines. The actuation of relay 106 also closes contacts 113 and 110 of its contacts 110 and-113, which completes a clrcuit from the live through conductor 107,

the coil of pilot 'relay 116, conductor 115,

1 the contacts 124 and 12501., non-barring key 126 and the coil of relay of battery 16. which is provided with as many contact springs as there are trunks extending to this particular operators position.- The actuation of relay 101 places a ground connection upon all of the private conductors extend- 101, to the live pole -ing to this operators position, thus preventing other switches from extending any other trunk to this operators positionduring the actuation of relay 101. The operator, observing the display of trunk signal 114, inserts the answering lug of one .of her cord circuits into the j ac pole of battery 16,

relay 116 also l This actuates relay 101, l l

95 designated by the display of signal 114, and this moves the contact'lever 103 to its abnormal position. This severs the circuit of trunk relay permitting that relay to return to its normal position, efl'acing the trunk signal 114 and releasing relays 116 and 101. The

movement of contact spring 103 to its abnormal position connects that spring with ground throughcontact 109, which thereafter maintains the grounded condition of the private conductor associated with this particular trunkline through conductor 102, contacts and 99 of relay 101 and the private conductor 98.

Upon the insertion ofthe plug into the .jack 95, a circuit is completed from the live 'pole of battery 16, through sleeve supervisory relay 150, conductor 143, contacts 142 and 97 'of the plug and jack, conductor 96, contact 91, brush86, segment 51, conductor 50, contacts 49 and 46 of cut-in relay 40, conductor 45,.contacts 36 and 25 of the distributed apparatus and intermediate frames and 'the coil ofcut-oif relay 13, to ground. The

current in this path actuates cut-011' relay 13, severing the circuit of the line relay 14 and connectingthe limbs of the telephone line through the contacts of relay -40 to the tip vand sleeve contacts 94 and 97 of the jack 95.

The release of line relay 14 severs its contacts 22 and 23 in the circuit of motor relay 48, thus causing the motor relayto assume its normal position. When the contacts fof-motoi' relay 48 return to normal, the

the relay 40 somewhat sluggish in its falling ofi", so that it will not drop away during the passage of the contacts 99 of relay 101 from their outside to their inside positions. The actuation of cut-ofi' relay' 13 also completes a circuit which may be traced from the live poleof battery 16, throu h the coil of supervisory relay 150, con uctor 143, sleeve contacts 142 and 97 of the plug and trunk jack, conductor 96, contact 91, brush 86, segment 5,1, conductor 50, contacts 49 and 46 of cut-iii relay -10, conductor 45, contacts 36 and 25 of the distributing apparatus and intermediate frames, contacts 21 and 11 ofcutoff relay 13, line conductor 6, transmitter 8, receiver 9, contacts of switch-hook 10, line conductor 7, contacts 17 and 20 of cut-off relay 13, contacts 26 and 37 of the intermediate and distributing apparatusframes, conductor 38, contacts 39 and 41'of cut-in relay 40, conductor 42, segment 43, brush 85,

contact 90, conductor 93, tip contacts 94 and 135 of the trunk-jack and plug, conductor 136, and'the coil of supervisory relay 149, to the ground pole of battery 16. The current in this path actuates both supervisory relays 150 and 149, the actuation of relay 149 preventing the display of the supervisory signal 155. The operator now obtains the number of the desired subscribers station, tests the jack at that line, and, if found idle, completes the circuit in the same manner as formerly described in completing the connection from subscribers station 3 to subscribers station 3. If the desired line is one having a distributer switch associated there-- with at the central oflice, the cut-off relay 13 of that line will be actuated by current flowing over the sleeve contact 34: of the multiple jack and through the mild the cut-off relay. The actuation of the cut-off relay will extend the conductors of the called line as far as the contacts 39 and 46 of the cut-in relay 40 associated with that line, but no farther, since the cut-in relay 40 will remain in its unactuated condition.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that my system provides means for greatly increasing the efliciency of the operator over that which may be obtained when only fixed lines are brought to her position. With only'fixed lines the operator may at one time have a rush of calls which will not "line to a distributed line.

'ing the busiest hour.

and thus prevent all calls, except those upon fixed hnes, from coming to this operators position. Each operators-position is also provlded with a non-barring key 126, which will prevent the operation of barring relay 101, so that, even though unanswered calls, upon distributed or upon fixed lines, appear before the operator, distributed calls may also come to this position. This key is useful at night, when all of the distributed calls may be thrown into one operators position by the'depression. of the barring keys 180 at the other operators positions. It would, of course, be useless to have the calls appear before this one operator, one call at a time, and, therefore, the depression of the non-barringkey 126 permits the calls toappear in their regular order and as rapidly as they are sent in by the subscribers.

It is not necessary in all cases to actually disconnect the conductors extending to the contacts of the answering jack and lamp when a line is changed over from a fixed The conductors extending to the distributer switch may be slmply connected or in multiple with the conductors extending to the contacts of the answering jack and lamp and then, if desired, the answering lamp may be removed from its socket. If this method is followed, it permits a line to be connected with a distributin switch and back again to a fixed line wit the greatest possible despatch.

It has been found in practice that with all fixed lines extending to an operators position, the subscribers are often required to wait as long as ten or fifteen seconds before the operator can respond-to their calls; with my present invention a subscriber is seldom required to wait over two or three seconds for ya response. It requires only one second for the switch with which a line is connected to test every position to which the trunks of the switch connect, and when an idle position is found the operator is always ready to answer the call immediately.

Care must be taken that the fixed lines extending to any operators position are not in excess of the number which can be satisfactorily answered by the operator dur- It is to be understood that I have here illustrated only one embodiment of my invention, and that modifications or alterations may be made in the specific arrangement without in any way departing from the spirit or scope of my invention.

I claim -1. In a telephone exchange system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a line and cut-oif relay for each of said lines, an intermediate distributing frame, terminals on said intermediate distributing frame connected to the contacts of the line and cut-off relays, contacts of said intermediate frame permanently connected to fixed answering jacks and lamps, distributer switches, contacts connected thereto, and jumper wires for associating any line either with a distributer switch or with a fixed answering jack and lamp.

2. In a telephone system, the combination with telephone lines, 'of a line relay and a cut-off relay for each line, answering and multiple jacks for each line, an intermediate distributing frame through the contacts of which said lines are associated with said answering jacks, said multiple jacks being connected with the lines through conductors independent of said intermediate frame contacts, a distributer switch for extending its associated line to idle operators positions, said distributer switch being connected with its associated line through contacts of said intermediate frame, whereby the connection of the distributer switch may be changed from one line to another without changing the connection between the line and its multiple jacks.

3. In a telephone system, the combination with fixed and automatically distributed telephone lines," of a connecting rack through which the conductors of all of said lines pass, line and cut-off relays situated upon the line side of said connecting rack and being the same for both fixed and distributed telephone lines.

4. In a telephone system, the combination with a pair of telephone lines, of a line and cut-off relay for each of said lines, a line lamp for one of said lines included in the circuit completed by the actuation of the line relay for that line, a distributer switch for the other line, and a motor control relay for the distributer switch included in the circuit completed by the actuation of the line relay of the second line, and means for readily connecting the motor control relay with the first line relay, or the line lamp with the second line relay.

5. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a line and a cut-off relay for each line, an intermediate distributing frame, conductors extending from said line and cut-off relays to the contacts of said intermediate distributing frame, distributer switches, controlling relays associated therewith adapted to be connected with any of said telephone lines by means of jumpers extending to the contacts of said lines upon said intermediate distributing frame.

6. In a telephone system, the combination with automatically distributed and fixed telephone lines, of means whereby unanswered calls on the fixed telephone lines affect the distribution of calls upon the distributed telephonelines, a line and a cut-off relay for each line, and means for changing any line from a fixed to a distributed line without changing the local circuits of the line and cut-ofi relays.

7. In a telephone system, the combination with a pair of telephone lines, each extending from a subscribers station to an intermediate frame at the central oflice, of like relay equipment for each of said lines on the line side of said intermediate frame, an answering jack and lamp connected with one of said lines and its relay equipment through contacts of the intermediate frame, an automatic distributer switch connected with the other line and its relay equipment through the contacts of said intermediate frame, a trunk ack at the same position as said answering jack adapted to be automatically associated with the latter line, and means to prevent the automatic association of the second line and trunk jack when an unanswered call exists upon the jack of the first line.

8. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a line and cut-off relay for each of said lines, an answering jack and a line lamp for each of said lines, the circuit for said lamp being completed by the actuation of said line relay, and the circuit of said line relay being interrupted by the actuation of said cut-off relay, a distributer switch, controlling relays therefor, and means for connecting said distributer switch and its controlling relays with any of said telephone lines by discon necting the line lamp and answering jack for said line and connecting the-conductors extended from the controlling relays with the terminals from which the answering jack and line lamp of said line were disconnected.

9. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a line .multiple jacks for said line, a distinctive current circuit and contacts of said controlling'relay for connecting said distinctive current circuit with'the test contacts of'the' multiple jacks to indicate their busy condi-' tion when a call has been-initiated and until the call is answeredby the operator to Whom the line isautomatically extended by the distributer switch. I

11. In a telephone system, the combina-- tion with a telephone line, of multiple jacks for said line, an answering trunk and an automatic vswitch for establishing-a, connection between said answering trunk and said telephone line, and a distinctive current source connected with the test contacts of said multiple jacks when a call is initiated uponvsaid line and until it has been answered onsaid trunk.

12. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a distributor switch for each line, answering jacks at various operators positions, trunks connectin said jacks with the contacts of said distributer switches, a relay for each trunk at the operators end thereof having its coil normally connected with the private conductor of said trunk, and actuated when a distributer switch connects a calling line with-said trunk, and contacts of said relay for placing a busy condition upon the trunk to prevent other distributor switches from connecting with the associated trunk line, contacts of said relay also completing a locking circuit for the coil of the relay.

13. In a telephone system, the combination with a plurality of telephone lines, of a distributer switch for each line, answering jacks at various operators positions, trunks connecting said jacks with the contacts of said distrlbuter switches, a relay for each trunk at the operators end thereof having its coil normally connected with the private conductor of said trunk, and actuated when a distributer switch connects a calling line with said trunk, contacts of said. relay for placing a busy condition upon the trunk to prevent other distributor switches from connecting with the associated trunk line, contacts of said relay for placing abusy condition upon the trunk to prevent other distributer switches from connecting with the associated trunk line, contacts of said relay also completing a locking circuit for the coil jacks at various operators positions, trunks connecting said jacks with the contacts of said distributer switches, a relay for each trunk at the operators end thereof having its coil normally connected with the private,

conductor of said trunk, and actuated when a distributer s'witchvconnects a calling line with said trunk, contacts of said relay for placing a busy condition upon the trunk to prevent other distributer switches from connecting with the associated trunk line, contacts of said relay also completing a locking circuit for the coil of the relay, a relay common to all of the trunks extending to a single operators position and adapted, when actuated, to place busy condition upon all of the trunks extending to this operators position, means for actuating the latter relay when any one ofthe former relays is actuated, and auxiliary contacts for said jacks for interrupting the locking circuit of the first mentioned relay.

15. In a telephone system, the combination with a telephone line extending from a subscribers station through an intermediate distributing frame to an answering jack, of a relay for the line on the line side of said frame, an automatic distributer switch having terminals for connecting with said line and relay at contacts of said intermediate distributing frame.

16. In a telephone system, the combination with a telephone line, of contacts of an intermediate distributor frame through which the conductors of said line pass, a

lamp wire connected with one of the con-' .tacts of said frame, and an automatic distributer switch'operatively associated with said line through a connection extending to the contact of sai'dintermediate distributing frame with which .said lamp wire connects.

Signed vby me *at Rochester, county of Monroe, and State of New -York, in the presence of two witnesses.-

HENRY P. OLAUSEN.

-Witnesses: p

" CHARLES E; Hocun,

E. A. R-EINKE.

-tion with a plurality of telephone lines, ofv

a distributer switch for each line, answering 

